Scientific Meetings, Networking, The Male Gaze and, well, um, Thingmabobs…

Annual scientific meetings have many purposes. One of the most essential purposes that cannot be readily accomplished by other means is the initiation and development of inter-personal relationships. Call it networking, schmoozing or whatever you like. As with any other human enterprise, there are many aspects that are improved by meeting other people face to face and becoming acquainted with them.
There is an aspect of scientific meetings, however, that always presents a very difficult problem for YHN (see Figure 1).

Teachign Scientists To Write

Female Science Professor posted today about a wackaloon experience she had going back and forth with an inexperienced trainee on revisions of a conference abstract submission. She and the trainee went back and forth about FSP’s revisions and the trainee’s expectations concerning the nature of guidance and feedback on the writing that was being provided. FSP discussed this with a colleagues:

In discussing this with colleagues, opinions are divided as to whether I should have been more helpful with respect to the student’s desire to be independent, even if it meant repeating the same editorial suggestions and going through even more than the 4 drafts I eventually read vs. whether I was too accommodating of the student’s lack of organization, initiative, and demonstrated ability to work independently.

Exhibit C in why I love blogging and especially the commentariat

I love this stuff, really. Absolutely LOOOOOVVEEE it. The part of the blogosphere that is, for lack of a better term, Academic blogging. I’m on record with my affection for free availability of most of the benefits of those distribution/GenEd/elective courses I took in the humanities departments, lo, many a year ago. This is what absolutely addicted me to Adventures in Ethics and Science which I think was the original Sb hook set in me as a reader. Do you know how much those liberal arts college classes cost you these days? Did I mention it was for FREE? I love it.

TR01l Grants: What does transformative mean?

The NIH has announced the much anticipated ‘transformative’ R01 funding program. The mechanism has been dubbed the T-R01, apparently, soon to be pronounced simply ‘troll’, I have very little doubt.

The purpose of the T-R01 Program is to support exceptionally innovative, original or unconventional research that will allow investigators to seize unexpected opportunities and cultivate bold ideas regardless of the anticipated risk. T-R01 funding will support inventive and innovative studies intended to transform current paradigms in biomedical or behavioral sciences.

The Guide announcement indicates that the first round of applications are due on Jan 29, 2009.
Let’s take a look.